Happy 2020 (A McRoll in the REAL World story by Sammy & Ilna)
by sammy1026
Summary: Grace, Casey, Jess & Kaitlyn have a special New Year's project planned. Part 13 of the 6th Annual REAL World Holiday Marathon.


_Welcome to part 13 of the 6th Annual REAL McRoll Holiday Marathon. There will be a new story every day between now and January 3rd. (Though we retain the right to keep going until January 5th if we're having too much fun.)_

_Hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

**Happy 2020**

"Danno, we need to make a quick run to the party store," Grace announced as she stood in the doorway of the living room with Casey, Jess and Kaitlyn.

Danny eyed the girls carefully. The eight sparkling eyes and four mischievous smiles staring back at him told him they were up to something. "For what?"

"It's a surprise," Grace said and the other three girls nodded in agreement.

"How expensive a surprise?" Danny asked.

"Not very," Grace said. "Besides, we have our own money."

Danny reached into his pockets and pulled out the keys to the rental car. "Did you make sure it's ok with Jenna?"

Kaitlyn clapped her hands. She was practically vibrating with excitement at the thought of a trip to the mall with just the older girls. "Yes. She said we could go."

"Ok then," He tossed Grace the keys. "Be very careful."

Seeing their smiles, Danny was glad they'd decided to pay the underage driver fees on the rental cars to give the older kids a little more freedom to do some things while on vacation.

"I will," Grace promised.

As the girls turned to leave Nonna pressed a few bills into Grace's hand. "This one is on me, bambina." She smiled. "Have fun."

* * *

"What's going on?" Jess asked not long after they returned from the store. Everyone in the living room was starting to move with purpose.

"Angie's missing again," Casey told her.

"Everyone take a room," Steve said.

"She was up so late last night, she's probably asleep upstairs again," Catherine said, heading for the stairs.

"Hopefully in a bed this time," Elizabeth added as she, Steve, Joseph, Cody, Jenna, Jacob, and DJ followed.

The others spread out around the lower levels of the house to look for the errant toddler.

"Last time I saw her she was in the kitchen," Grace said. She, Danny, Gabby, Kaitlyn, and Nonna headed that way.

"Hard to believe a kid could disappear twice in a house with so many people around," Gabby said, opening the cabinet beneath the sink.

"You do remember who her parents are, right?" Danny quipped. "Wait, I just heard something." He cocked his head, listening. The rustling sound came again and he turned. "Pantry."

Nonna opened the door and there was Angie asleep on the floor of the pantry, a bag of uncooked rice in her arms.

"Thank goodness," Nonna said. "For a moment I was worried it was a mouse."

"Ohh, a mouse would have been so cute," Kaitlyn said.

Danny pocketed his phone after snapping a picture and knelt beside Angie. "I dunno, Kaitlyn, this is pretty darn cute."

She smiled. "True."

He gently eased Angie into his arms and stood, turning as Steve and Catherine appeared in the doorway, having been alerted by Grace. "Where do you want her? Den?"

Catherine nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Danny."

He chuckled lightly as he passed them. "Can't wait to see where we find her tomorrow."

* * *

As soon as lunch was over the older kids put on their winter gear and headed outside to continue working on their surprise, which by this point it was clear Nonna had been clued in on.

"Take these," she said as she handed Grace a plate of struffoli and knot cookies, "and tell Mrs. Fabrizio I said thank you."

Danny's ears perked up at the name of his grandmother's long-time next-door neighbor. "What are we thanking Mrs. Fabrizio for?"

"You'll see soon," Grace said. "Just give us about an hour then come outside." She started to leave then turned back. "And no peeking."

An hour later the adults, along with the younger children, bundled up and headed outside to see what the big surprise was all about. As they walked into the front yard they saw two wheelbarrows, five snow shovels, seven tired but brimming with excitement children, and several towering piles of snow, some of which had quite obviously been transferred from Mrs. Fabrizio's yard to Nonna's.

"We're building a whole family of snowmen!" Grace said excitedly. "Everyone makes their own and then we got some decorations to personalize them with."

"Cody and Dylan and Jadon helped us move the snow," Kaitlyn said as she adjusted the pea coat Grace had handed down to her for the trip. Jenna had offered to buy her a new coat but Kaitlyn was thrilled with the chance to wear the coat Steve had given Grace for Christmas years earlier.

"What a fantastic idea," Catherine said as Angie squirmed in her arms and demanded, "Down."

The second she was on her own two feet the toddler ran across the yard and jumped into a pile of snow squealing excitedly. "'nooooooooooooooow!"

"We really should have seen that coming," Steve laughed.

Over the course of the next two hours they worked together to construct twenty-three snowmen of varying sizes in Nonna's front yard. More than a few neighbors had come out of their houses to watch the fun as slowly but surely the scene fell into place. Once the snow was all packed and put in place, stick arms, carrot noses, and charcoal eyes, mouths and buttons were applied as finishing touches.

At that point Grace, Casey, Jess and Kaitlyn went to the car and returned with armloads of shopping bags from the party store.

Grace nudged Kaitlyn and whispered, "Go ahead."

The youngest Allen girl took a deep breath. "We wanted to personalize each of the snowmen so we bought a few things and then we thought maybe afterward everyone can pose beside theirs and we can take pictures."

"That sounds fun, sweetie," Jenna said.

"What a wonderful idea," Elizabeth agreed. "You girls are so thoughtful."

Casey looked at her cohorts. "Where should we start?"

Grace thought for a minute then pointed to the end of the line of snowmen. "How about right here."

The girls rummaged through the bags until they found what they were looking for and then approached the snow people representing the Reyes family.

"First off," Grace knelt in front of a bouncing Joan, "we got you a tiara and a pretty necklace and some jewels and a pink boa because we know you are a princess."

"Yes! Thank you," Joan squealed excitedly as Kaitlyn helped her decorate her snowman.

"Mary, we got you some schoolbooks and also a memory book because you make the prettiest scrap books and collages." Kaitlyn presented Mary with the party store cutouts. "You showed us all how much fun preserving memories can be."

Mary swiped at her cheek and hugged the girls. "Thank you." Part of the reason she worked so hard to catalog all their pictures and souvenirs is so that someday Joan would have the tangible reminders of a happy childhood she never had.

"Aaron," Casey said, "we got you a football and a Cowboys helmet but also a cupcake because you remind us it's possible to like two things as different as football and baking."

He beamed. "My snowman will wear them with pride."

"Aunt Deb, we got you a microphone and some sheet music and … we weren't sure exactly how to say what else we wanted to say …" Jess pulled a small bow and arrow from the bag.

"Like Merida!" Joan squealed immediately.

"Exactly." Jess high-fived the excited youngster. "We got this for you because you're very brave and we think that's awesome."

"I'm not sure what to say," Deb beamed. "Thank you all."

They moved down the line.

"Gabby, we got you a pretty necklace and also," Casey dug deep in the bag, "a magnifying glass and a mummy. Sorry," she chuckled, "that was the only thing they had that looked like an artifact. You show us every day that a woman can care about hair and makeup and still be a kick ass scientist."

Gabby beamed. "Thank you."

"Danno," Grace smiled, "we got you a badge and a tie and a Jets helmet but also a pineapple and …" She turned to Jess who pulled a jar from one of the bags. "Sand. Just like both down the shore and on the beaches at home."

"Neither of which I like or understand why anyone else would," Danny grumbled good-naturedly.

"And yet you can't get away from it," Steve teased.

Jadon dropped an arm across Danny's shoulders. "That's called irony, D-Dawg."

"Good to see you're paying attention in your classes," Danny said.

"You're a great dad and a great uncle and a great cop and just an all-around great guy," Grace said as she kissed him on the cheek. "I love you. We all love you."

"I love you too, monkey."

Grace took a few minutes to adorn her own snowperson with pom-poms, a colorful parachute to commemorate her skydive, a cardboard cell phone and a graduation hat.

"Please don't remind me," Danny begged.

"Less than six months," Grace said in a sing-song voice.

After putting bandanas on Snow Hoppy and Snow Scout they found themselves in front of the Allen family snow people.

"We got you this," Kaitlyn said as she handed her mother a small poster board sign that read _World's Greatest Mom_."

Jenna blinked back tears. "Being your mom is my very favorite thing in the world, so thank you!"

"We also got you some balloons and a bouquet of flowers because you help people throw great parties at work," Casey added. "And a dumbbell. Not because you work out but because you're strong and remind us to never give up."

Jenna wrapped all her children in a hug. "I love you."

"We love you too," they chorused.

Casey faced her older brother. "Cody, we got you a backpack, some schoolbooks and a trophy for everything you do for us."

"Thanks, guys, but you didn't have to do that," he said around the lump in his throat.

"We wanted to," Casey insisted. "We also got you this." She reached into the bag and pulled out a superhero cape with a wide grin.

Cody blinked back tears, blindsided by the unexpected gift.

His siblings all hugged him. "You deserve it."

"We also got a cardboard bouquet of flowers that Snow Cody can give to Snow Jess," Kaitlyn bubbled.

Jess rubbed her boyfriend's bicep. "I would be honored to accept them." She kissed him softly on the lips.

Everyone took note of the fact that for the first time in years there was no "ewwwww" from Dylan.

Jenna smiled to herself at the fact that her middle son was apparently starting to notice girls. Having already been through it with Cody she felt much more prepared to deal with it a second time.

"Jadon," Grace said, "We got you a backpack, some schoolbooks, some BBQ tools and a pair of sunglasses."

"Because you think you're so cool," Cody teased.

Jadon nodded appreciatively as he placed the glasses on his snowman and grinned then turned to his best friend and said, "Wait, _'think'_ I'm so cool?"

Jess decorated her snow creation with a hula hoop, a college pennant, and a flute while Kaitlyn adorned hers with a glittery crown, a pretty necklace, and a cardboard sloth before tying a green bandana, his favorite color, around the neck of Snow Midnight nestled in her arms.

"What did you get, Casey?" Cody asked.

She reached into the bag and pulled out a track jersey with her number added to the front in black sharpie, a pair of cardboard running shoes, a softball and a graduation cap that matched Grace's and received a similar reaction to Danny's from Jenna.

"Dylan, we thought you'd like a LEGO box, a motor aaaaaand," Grace fished in the bag, "of course a robot."

"Yes!" Dylan said before his teenage ambivalence slipped back into place and he said, "Thanks," with a nod of his chin.

"Jacob, we know you've kind of outgrown minions," Kaitlyn said as she pulled a yellow figure from a different bag.

"NEVER!" Jacob cried, making everyone laugh.

"We also got you a horseshoe and a bucket of movie popcorn and…." Kaitlyn's eyes danced with glee as she removed the next item. "A sign that says _Best _ Ever."_

"Best sign ever!" Jacob declared immediately.

The girls were still chuckling as they moved on to Joseph, Elizabeth and Grandma Ang's snow people.

They presented Grandma Ang with a BINGO card, a pot of gold to represent how lucky she is, a small surfboard to commemorate her picture with Chin on one of her first trips to the island and a bandana for Snow Gizmo who was sleeping peacefully at the feet of Snow Ang.

"You captured me perfectly," she said as she hugged them all.

Joseph and Elizabeth both beamed with joy when they received large cardboard buttons that said _Grandma_ and _Grandpa _along with a teacher's apple, a stack of books and several shopping bags for Elizabeth and a selection of battleship pieces, a navy cover, and a set of cardboard tools for Joseph.

"We're all so happy you moved to Hawaii permanently," Grace said.

Joseph and Elizabeth looked at each other and then said in unison, "Best decision we ever made."

"DJ." Grace knelt in front of him as they neared the end of the line of snow people. "We got you a backpack to show you'll be starting school when we get back home."

The young boy smiled happily.

"But also," Grace continued, "a puzzle piece because you're so good at puzzles and you fit in perfectly with our family, some books because you like to read stories, and a button that says _I'm a Big Brother._"

Catherine and Steve squeezed each other's hands as DJ launched himself into Grace's arms then turned and showed them his sign.

As Kaitlyn and Grace helped him decorate his likeness Casey presented Angie with some cardboard gymnastics equipment, a set of swimmies, some blocks and of course a large cookie.

"Coo-kie!" she squealed and immediately tried to take a bite.

"Sorry, cutie," Casey chuckled. "You can't eat that one."

"Uncle Steve and Aunt Catherine," Grace said. "You guys were hard to choose for. We got you both covers." She produced two hats from the bag. "And badges, because even though Auntie Cath isn't on the task force anymore, she still helps catch bad guys sometimes."

"Yes, she does." Steve smiled.

"We got you some party streamers because you throw the best parties at your house and a big red heart because you're about the most romantic couple ever."

Again, everyone took note of none of the expected squirming from Dylan when talk turned to love.

"We looked at a couple of different signs and considered a cape for Uncle Steve, but we knew he probably wouldn't like that," Grace chuckled, "So in the end we decided on these." She pulled two gold medals on ribbons from the bottom of the final bag. "Because you guys are a lot of different things to each of us but we all agree you're two of the best people on the planet and you make us all want to be better people every day."

Come here," Catherine held out her arms and all four girls walked into a group hug. "You girls are the absolute best. This was such an amazing thing for you to do. I can see how much thought went into it."

"I'm very proud of you all," Steve said.

The girls beamed.

"We have one more," Grace said as she moved to the final snowman and presented Nonna with an apron, a rolling pin, a cookie and a large red heart.

"Thank you, bambina, these are exactly the things I would have chosen for myself."

"You've taught us all," Kaitlyn's arm swept to encompass the entire group, "that the most important ingredient in baking and in life is love."

"You are exactly right," Nonna said proudly.

The final touch was leis for all the Hawaiian snow folks and shades for the Los Angeles family members.

After taking pictures of each person with their snowman Grace enlisted Mrs. Fabrizio's nephew, who had stopped in to visit, to stand back near the edge of the street and take one panoramic picture of the impressively decorated front yard with each real life person standing beside their snow doppelganger. Right in the middle she placed a sign that read,

_**Happy New Year from our family to yours!**_

**THE END**

* * *

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